Moving to assisted living can feel like moving your life into a totally new world. With this new change comes new routines, new expenses, and of course, new decisions. One of the most pressing decisions that many older adults face as they prepare for this sort of move is how to handle their home. Deciding what to do with your home is a big decision, and it’s certainly not the last one you will make during this big transition. If you want to make figuring out what to do with your current home easier, Senior Living Chaplains recommends these essential steps.

Figure Out Your Assisted Living Plan Before You Make a Decision

If you have recently decided to move into assisted living but haven’t decided which community is right for you, you should take care of this crucial step ASAP. Depending on which community you choose, you may need to make a different decision about selling, renting, or keeping your current home. If you’re wondering where to start when selecting an assisted living community, you can go online to compare features and rates for assisted living communities in your area. You can chat, call, or email with advisors on these sites to narrow down your choices and schedule tours of your top picks. Tours can be useful because you can see for yourself what sort of amenities each community offers, and you can also see that assisted living can provide some serious perks. Many communities offer social activities and maintenance services in addition to providing seniors with safety.

Work With a Local Realtor Before You Decide to Sell Your Current Home

Now that you have your assisted living plan and costs figured out, you can decide whether selling your home makes the most sense. This is the most obvious way to get rid of the expense and upkeep involved with owning a home, but if you need funds for assisted living, you need to make sure your home sale provides profits. Investing in the right upgrades and staging touches can help boost the price point of your home. But honestly, the best way to ensure that selling your home will be profitable is to consult a realtor. An experienced local pro can provide market information for your area and can help you decide whether selling right now will yield profits.

Find a Property Manager Before You Decide to Rent Out Your Current Home

When you’re preparing for a move to assisted living, you already have enough on your plate. So, don’t add more stress by going it alone if you decide to rent out your home. Before you begin leasing your home, think about hiring a property manager to take care of the finer points of marketing, maintaining, and managing a rental property. Otherwise, you could end up searching for reliable tenants and attempting to collect timely rent payments on your own. An experienced property manager can tell you how to make rentals more profitable.

Talk With Your Loved Ones Before You Decide to Gift Your Current Home

A far less common option for seniors who are looking to get rid of their homes before transitioning into assisted living is to give the home to family members. If you are considering this uncommon move for your current home, you should talk with the intended recipients first. Make sure your loved ones want your home and also ensure that your family members understand the financial implications of receiving these property gifts. They may need to pay additional taxes on that property, so you both need to be aware of these legal ramifications.

If you’re still having a hard time deciding how to handle your current home, you may need more time to plan your transition into assisted living. After all, moving out of your home and giving up your current lifestyle are both huge changes, so allow yourself some time to process your emotions and then get back to using the tips above to decide what to do with your home.

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I’ve been a professional chaplain, a bereavement coordinator, and a counselor for healthcare professionals for over 35 years. Through focused education and experience, I have had the opportunity to help many clients, families, and colleagues navigate through the dying, death, & bereavement processes. However, I have found that no matter how knowledgeable, understanding, and supportive I may be when helping others, it is dramatically different when grief invades my own world.

This became abundantly clear when my mother died after a short illness. After she drew her last breath and I was driving home from the hospital, I had to pull over to the side of the road and allow the emotions to flow. I hadn’t experienced the deep pain and anguish of grief in this way for quite some time. I felt lost, unprepared, and unwilling to begin that journey. Though I had focused my professional life on providing support for others in their grief, I felt helpless–totally unarmed to help myself.

At that moment I decided to take my own advice. I took out my phone and called a friend, a bereavement colleague, from right there in my car. It was extremely helpful to open up and share my pain with a trusted colleague who was able to empathetically listen, understand, and provide support.

Don’t try to “go it alone.” Take the red “S” off your chest. Whether you call a colleague, EAP, or confide with your chaplain, take your own advice and talk with someone about the significance of your loss and the pain you are experiencing. You’ll be glad you did.

You can also talk with God. He knows grief and heartache, firsthand. He loves you and wants to wrap His arms around you and whisper in your ear, “I’ve got you. It’s going to be okay.” He says to each of us, “Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not anxiously look around you, for I AM your God. I will strengthen you; surely, I will help you; surely, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)

Ralph Plumley is an Executive Director of Operations for Marketplace Chaplains where he serves as a mentor to chaplains and oversees the staff-care benefit they provide to companies and organizations in the greater Philadelphia area. With a background in hospital chaplaincy, funeral home bereavement services, and hospice care, Ralph has over 35 years’ experience assisting families and professionals when a death occurs. He is a graduate of Philadelphia Biblical University (now Carin University) and Dallas Theological Seminary with a Master of Theology Degree. He is Ordained by the Baptist General Conference, Certified in Thanatology: Dying, Death, and Bereavement by the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC), and a Certified Funeral Celebrant. He has received & provided extensive training in Critical Incident Stress Management, and suicide intervention. He has served as President of the Delaware End-of-Life Coalition, on the Board of Directors of Supporting Kidds: The Center for Grieving Children & Their Families, and committee chair for ADEC. Ralph has authored several CareNotes published by Abbey Press for teens, adults, and professional care givers.  He has been asked to speak locally and nationally on various topics related to dying, death, Critical Incident Stress Management, loss, & grief. Ralph and his wife have been married for 39 years. They have four children and four grandchildren, so far.

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